19 years in prison for attempting to kidnap governor of Michigan
2022.12.28 11:45
19 years in prison for attempting to kidnap governor of Michigan
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – A CBS News affiliate reported that a right-wing militia member convicted of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was given a sentence of over 19 years in prison on Wednesday in a U.S. District Court.
In August, a federal court jury in Grand Rapids, Michigan, found Barry Croft Jr., 47, a member of the far-right Three Percenters militia group, guilty of plotting to kidnap the Democratic governor.
On Tuesday, 39-year-old Adam Fox, who was also a member of the Three Percenters and was found guilty of the same offenses during the same trial, was given a 16-year prison sentence. Fox received an additional five years of supervised release from the judge in addition to that sentence.
In the kidnapping conspiracy, Croft and Fox were among 13 men arrested in October 2020. The two had been accused by the prosecution of working together to kidnap Whitmer and start “a second American Revolution.”
According to prosecutors, Fox and Croft had planned to break into Whitmer’s vacation home, kidnap her at gunpoint, and transport her to a “trial” where she would face execution on false treason charges.
Additionally, the two were found guilty of conspiring to use an explosive device that was meant to impede law enforcement’s response to the planned kidnapping, according to prosecutors. Additionally, Croft was found guilty of possessing an explosive device.
The plot, according to the prosecution, was sparked by right-wing militia groups’ opposition to public health measures Whitmer implemented in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its goal was to provoke armed conflict in the country as a contentious presidential race neared in November 2020.
A bomb that, according to prosecutors, the conspirators intended to detonate in order to impede law enforcement’s response to the kidnapping was the alleged weapon of mass destruction.
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Whitmer, who was co-chairman of Joe Biden’s campaign for president that year, had had public disagreements with then-President Donald Trump regarding her COVID-19 policies.
She blamed Trump for inciting political radicalism by over and over coordinating warmed manner of speaking on the issue, incorporating a mission rally in Michigan where his analysis of Whitmer drew serenades of “Lock her up” from the group.
